2019: August 7th - Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group Live in LA

This just dropped on Sargent House's Youtube Channel, which is very much worth subscribing to, by the way. Described as a rough cut of a work in progress in the About section, I'm curious what this will become. Regardless, this band is ridiculous.

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NCBD:

Look at the alt cover by Ray Fawkes! Regular series artist Andrea Sorrentino's covers are always fantastic, but this... this is hallucinogenic and ominous.

Okay, I know I said no more monthly series, but Simon Furman and Guido Guidi returning to tell a prequel to the original, Marvel/IDW Transformers/Regeneration One run? Regeneration One was one of the best monthly series I read in a decade, so I'm definitely getting this one. I don't read any of the other T-Formers books, but I've always had a soft spot for that old Marvel series - primarily when Furman's run really got going - and then R1. They mirror the latter seasons of the original cartoon and cartoon movie - the only Transformers movie, in my opinion - so this will be fun.

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Playlist from 8/06:

Shrinebuilder - Eponymous
Uniform and The Body - Not Good Enough (Pre-release Single)
Tool - Opiate
Opeth - Still Life
Opeth - Deliverence
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
Interstellar Fun - Caves of Steel EP
Dean Hurley - Anthology Resources Vol. 2: Philosophy of Beyond


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Today's spread:

The turning of a tide into a new Universe. Yeah, you could say that. In the process of converting The Horror Vision from just a podcast into a Publishing Imprint. Excited, and a little horrified. Which is good. The Universal Dance; evolution.

2019: New Track from Upcoming Uniform and The Body Collaboration

This new album from Uniform and The Body is shaping up to be on my year-end list again. Man, these guys really create a sonic space. This sounds like a cosmic Suicide to me, and it juxtaposes nicely with the first track released from the album a few months ago.

Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back drops next Friday on Sacred Bones. Pre-order HERE.

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A few nights ago I received the Ronin Flicks Blu Ray copy of Richard Stanley's Hardware that I fought ordering for about two months and finally gave in to. This is a 4K transfer, and I've gotta tell you, looking at most of the scenes, I can't believe what an outstanding job this turned out to be. Also, the second disc is packed with extras that will probably take me forever to get around to. For $35, this turned out to be a steal.

I won't waste time posting a youtube rip of this beautiful scan here, so instead I'll post the theme song (again), from PIL:



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Playlist from 8/05:

The Budos Band - Burnt Offering
Alice in Chains B-Sides Playlist
Opeth - Heart in Hand (Pre-release single for In Cauda Venemum)
Opeth - Deliverance
Opeth - Damnation
Opeth - Still Life
Alice Donut - The Untidy Suicides of Your Degenerate Children

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Card of the day:

Another spread. I've doubled-down on my Tarot reading, so I'm trying to rebuild a more complex relationship with my deck. To do this, I pulled out Crowley's Book of Thoth and have been re-familiarizing myself with the cross-relationship between the Thoth Deck and the Kabbalistic Tree of Life.

This spread then, largely introduces the idea that after moving on from the Queen of Swords and her perceptive but possibly misguided analysis, there is a futility with new ideas being sluggish, and uncooperative (the Knight of Disks). From Crowley, "These three cards (speaking here not of the three that I drew, but Atu XIII Death, XIV Art, and The Devil) may therefore be summed up as a hieroglyph of the processes by which idea manifests as a form."

No lie, I have two almost-finished short stories that are rooted in, what I feel, are really cool ideas, and which start and unfold in a way I am very happy with, but which I cannot end, and which have become more and more sluggish (again the Knight) as I try to resolve the problem. This means, whenever I'm thinking, especially of writing, I have two huge open loops distracting me. I don't want to take the time off from Ciazarn, but I very much need to address this soon, or I'm just collecting psychic debris, falling more and more out of tune myself; becoming the Knight of Disks.

No Thanks.

2019: August 4th - Tool!

I've been pretty persnickety towards Tool in recent years. With all the half-teased information about an album that never seemed to materialize, I remained skeptical even through last week's announcement of Fear Inoculum's imminent, August 30th release. When I saw that the band put up Hush, a song from their first EP Opiate which I have, for whatever reason, listened to a handful of times but never really gotten into, the new artwork - which is fantastic - I mistook it for a new Tool track.

Whoops!

Seeing Opiate on Apple Music this morning I decided to take a break from the Opeth binge I'm currently going through and dig in. In the meantime, here's that re-mastered audio for Hush. Shame on me for thinking after this long, Tool would release a 'single' ahead of the album's release. I'd actually prefer that, only twenty-four days out, they just wait and drop it all at once.

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This weekend, I attended Midsummer Scream. Really cool Con. I'd definitely offer the criticism that they need to really step up their organizational parameters next year, but overall, very cool. Overall though, very cool. I was able to see a panel on Witchcraft and Magick - very timely as I've begun to move back in that direction myself - as well as Shockwaves podcast live, and a kind of post-script panel for The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell, which K and I are both fans of (K more than me, I thought she was going to explode with excitement when McConnell took the stage). The panel consisted of Moderator and Showrunner for the now bafflingly cancelled show, Kirk Thatcher; Michael Oosterom (Rankle); Mick Ignis (Edgar); Colleen Smith (Rose and Cousin Evie); and Darcy Prevost (Production Designer). Really fun panel, and they reminded us that McConnell currently has a youtube show called From the Mind of Christine McConnell and a Patreon.



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Playlist from the last few days:

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Shake the Sheets
Primus - Frizzle Fry
Ministry - The Land of Rape and Honey
Grimes - Oblivion
Dean Hurley - Anthology Resource Volume II: Philosophy of Beyond

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Again! Three-card spread this morning:

Queen of Swords again! This time, I'm reading it as it's influence is moving past me, so I need to be ready for a new paradigm, one that may result in a steadying of my skills and mindset. This is great, in that I've got a couple of big decisions on the horizon, and making them from the right place mentally and emotionally should result in success!

2019: August 3rd - Satanic Panic Trailer!

I've been waiting this one for what feels like an eternity! Written by Grady "My Best Friend's Exorcism" Hendrix and directed by Chelsea Stardust, Satanic Panic is possibly my most eagerly anticipated film of the year. And now we finally have a trailer! This, along with Joe Begos' Bliss and a host of other films I can't quite bring to mind at the moment are all looking likely to play at Beyondfest this year, and I can't wait!

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Recently, I wrapped up Robert S. Wilson's Ashes and Entropy Anthology from Nightscape Press. The final story, I Can Give You Life, by Paul Michael Anderson finished the book perfectly, and - I think - ended up my favorite story in a book filled with stories that rabidly competed for that title. Either way, buy it HERE and read your goddamn hearts out; Anthologies do not get any better than this.

And now, of course, I need a new book to read. Luckily, I have one I've been chompin' at the bit to get to for months. Black Mountain, Laird Barron's second installment in the Isaiah Coleridge novels, and three chapters in I can't put this one down.

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Playlist from the last few days:

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Shake the Sheets

Motörhead - 1916

Aerosmith - Pump

Anthrax - Sound of White Noise

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - The Night Creeper

U2 - War

Tool - Undertow

Black Sabbath - Master of Reality

Opeth - Blackwater Park

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Pusher Man (Single)

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Mind Control

Frank Sinatra - Moonlight Serenade

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Card of the day:

Okay, this one is definitely trying to tell me something, and I've been pretty lax on listening. A promotion at work and the first draft of Ciazarn has consumed most of my time. Today we're heading to Midsummer Scream, but I'm putting Crowley's Book of Thoth in my backpack so I can start digging into this one a little more earnestly. 

2019: August 1st - Tigers Are Not Afraid Trailer

I've been hearing about this one for months, so I was pretty excited to see Shudder drop the trailer. Not sure how wide a theatrical release it'll get, but I'll definitely make the attempt to see it.

Speaking of seeing things in the theatre, It Chapters One and Two director Andy Muschietti is curating a special run of classic horror films at Arclight Theaters all over the greater Los Angeles area. The roster is fantastic, and I'm going to do my damnedest to catch John Carpenter's The Thing and Tobe Hooper's Poltergeist on the big screen for the first time. Here's a link to the Event's page on the Arclight site, and in honor of my excitement, here's the trailers for two fantastic 80s horror films:






Playlist from 7/31:

Opeth - Watershed
Opeth - Blackwater Park
Kings of Leon - Because of the Times
Drab Majesty - Careless
The Devil and the Almighty Blues - II
The Dillinger Escape Plan - One of Us is the Killer
Cibo Mato - Stereotype A
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Wasteland
Sleep - The Sciences

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No card today.

2019: July 31st El Gigante now on Shudder!!!

Super psyched for Luchagore Productions' short film El Gigante to hit Shudder! This one needs to be seen by more people. If you dig it, check out Luchagore's website, youtube channel, as well as Culture Shock, their entry into the Blumhouse/Hulu anthology series Into the Dark. And if you have Shudder, El Gigante is live now, so brace yourself.

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NCBD this week sees the release of the final issue of Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang's mind-bending, hellofagoodtime Paper Girls. I can't wait to see how this one resolves...

And if you haven't already heard, we're apparently getting a pretty big surprise in the fourth part of TMNT: City at War. I don't want to spoil anything, but it's kind of a big thing for long-time fans of the four:

NCBD has been light for me of late, as like Paper Girls, quite a few series I've read for years have ended (some rather unexpectedly), and I've eliminated others that had, for whatever reason, grown stale for me. It's weird, not having a bunch of books to look forward to every month, but I'm trying like hell to resist adding new ones after that existential crisis a month or so back. In most cases, comic chastity has become easy. In others, however, restraint takes work. Case in point; two weeks ago in his weekly newsletter, Warren Ellis announced that he and Bryan Hitch are doing a year-long, monthly Batman series, Batman's Grave.

I know, right?

Batman's Grave #1 drops October 9th, and it will be oh so difficult not to buy it monthly. I may end up doing just that, except, Ellis reads much better as a trade. Not to say the issues are bad, however if trying to read his Wildstorm monthly and eventually switching to trade (one left that's out November 9th) reminded me just how awesome Ellis reads in collected volumes. Night and day. Plus, no fucking ads. I will try to keep this in mind come October 9th, "Wait for trade Wait for trade Wait for trade..." my mantra...

Here's the only real image DC has released so far, aside from what look like some unfinished B&W stuff floating around out there on the comic news sites.

Playlist from 7/30:

Frank Black - Teenager of the Year
Soundgarden - Superunknown
The Jesus Lizard - Liar
The Jesus Lizard - Lash EP
Revolting Cocks - Big Sexy Land
Cibo Mato - Stereotype A
Zeal and Ardor - Stranger Fruit
Siouxsie and the Banshees - Tinderbox

Card of the day:

This looks like good news to me. After a five or six day streak last week working on Ciazarn, building momentum that seemed to really help me crack into the tone of the story, I had to take Sunday off to attend a benefit for a friend. That break in the inertia that had begun to bring things on the project together was a set-back. This is how it is, especially when writing in the early stages of something not yet fully developed. Monday was another wash, and then yesterday I started over. And of course, that first day back on is anything but productive; it's really just breaking fresh ground to begin building momentum again. So seeing the "Breakthrough" card, well, it makes me feel good about what's coming.

2019: July 30th - The Lighthouse Trailer

I know a lot of folks hated Robert Eggers debut film The Witch. I love it, and I am very much looking forward to Egger's follow-up The Lighthouse. And after what feels like forever, we now have a trailer. With a New York and Los Angeles release date of October 18/19th, I'm expecting this to be at this year's Beyondfest, and it will definitely be one of the major screenings I attempt to get tickets for.

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Rick Remender's Black Science is ending in September with issue #43, and that means it's time for me to re-read this reality-shattering opus from the beginning. I've loved this series, however at some point I coasted a few months without reading a few issues and when I came back, I realized I was lost. It happens when you have a story with so many different dimensions. Thus, I figured I'd wait until we were a month or two out from the end, and then re-read. Starting from the beginning again really re-triggered everything I love about the series: Matteo Scalera and Dean White's art; Grant McKay's narration and dialogue; and the 70s-ish deep fantasy overtones. The creatures/world building in this one are INSANE. Case in point:

Black Science is available from Rick Remender's Giant Generator via Image Comics in a variety of formats. If you love deep, non-Tolkien derivative fantasy, give it a try.

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Playlist from the last few days:

Zeal and Ardor - Stranger Fruit
The Streets - Original Pirate Material
Ministy - Psalm 69
Shellac - The End of Radio
Lightning Born - Eponymous
Golden - Eponymous
TV on the Radio - Staring at the Sun EP
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Damn the Torpedoes
Revolting Cocks - Big Sexy Land
Revolting Cocks - Cocked and Loaded
Gibby Haynes and His Problem - Eponymous
Tamaryn - The Waves

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No card today.